"Thank you for sparing my life, Clan Leader!"

Zajik felt as if he had received a royal pardon.

He had caused such a massive disaster this time. Not being dissected on the spot and turned into a Puppet was already an immense act of mercy. Even though he knew his punishment wouldn’t be this simple, Zajik couldn’t worry about that right now.

Today was the first Day of Abstinence. He had a month left—another month to live was another month gained.

"You may go."

"Yes, yes!"

Zajik scrambled to his feet and backed out of the room, bowing deeply.

The chapel was crowded and should have been hot, but he was drenched in a cold sweat.

Only after he had backed out of the solitary room did he dare to raise a hand and wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Then, his expression darkened once more.

Sean.

Zajik clenched his fists. He had seared that name into his memory.

’He had to admit, Sean’s Magic was surprisingly unconventional. If he wasn’t mistaken, Sean must also possess a Forbidden Spell that could drastically increase his Magic Power in a short time. Otherwise, there was no way a Tier One or Tier Two constitution could have survived a punch from my Puppet.’

’For a brand-new Wizard, he already had the power to sway the entire situation. Impressive... truly impressive!’

’But did he really think there was nothing I could do?’

’Ultimately, Sean was just a Low-tier Wizard. No amount of flashy tricks could change that fact. Even if he used a Forbidden Spell to reach Tier Four, he still wouldn’t be in the High Tier ranks. If Sean dared to show his face, I could take him out in an instant!’

’Those math problems were indeed tricky.’

’My Power has been greatly reduced now. If Sean used a Forbidden Spell to create the problems, it might actually cause me some minor trouble.’

’But I can learn.’

’Not only can I learn, but everyone can learn.’

’Math isn’t Mysticism. There’s no barrier to entry like the Spring of Enlightenment.’

One month wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t short, either. The only difficulty was that there were far too many math problems. Trying to predict the exact questions he would use would be like finding a needle in a haystack. But he knew how to counter this.

Because he had the recording.

Zajik didn’t waste a moment. After leaving the chapel, he went straight back to his residence in the city, opened his computer, dragged the backed-up video file from his cloud drive, and began to play it in slow motion.

Sean was in the corner of the frame, his pupils glowing gold as he materialized countless symbols in the air.

Due to the camera angle, which was positioned high up, the downward view looked like a golden, starry sky. These "stars" seemed to be drawn together by some kind of Power, rapidly converging to form mathematical formulas and problems. These problems then stacked together to build walls that radiated a faint golden light, and then—

CLICK!

Zajik hit pause.

The image froze at the moment the Maze of Truth had just been erected.

Zajik narrowed his eyes, pulled out his phone, and called his trusted subordinate.

"Gather everyone, wait for me in the conference room. We’re having a meeting."

"Yes."

The subordinate agreed first before cautiously asking, "How many people do you need?"

"All of them!"

All of them?

"Yes!"

The subordinate was instantly energized. It was the same word, but his voice was much louder and more spirited than before.

Everyone already knew what happened at Holkaydo Floris Hospital last week. They also knew the Director had summoned the Vice Director for a talk. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the topic was accountability. And after accountability came the chance to atone for one’s mistakes.

After all, their Vice Director was a Tier Five High-tier Witch Hunter. It was unlikely he would be "dealt with" immediately. So, calling a meeting at this time definitely meant they were going to pull off something big to win back their lost prestige.

Receiving the call, the subordinates were all fired up.

It wasn’t about getting revenge.

They didn’t work at the hospital in Holkaydo; whether the hospital did well or poorly had nothing to do with them.

But a major operation was an opportunity to earn merits and build their records. Besides one’s Magic Tier, this was the only way for a Witch Hunter to improve their status and benefits within the organization.

The more people there were, the easier it was to blend in and coast.

Just stand in a corner, and no one would notice you slacking off.

Many of them had their own little schemes.

Coasting for credit was just one part of it. More importantly, they understood the rules of the Florist Family.

It seemed the Vice Director hadn’t been punished this time, but the matter wasn’t over. Even if he pulled off something huge, like killing a High-tier Wizard from the Dawn Conference, he could at most save his own skin. He most likely wouldn’t be able to hold onto his position as Vice Director.

That was because killing a High-tier Wizard had been the goal of the Holkaydo plan all along. Accomplishing it now would just be closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. The hospital’s losses were still unrecoverable, so his resignation was almost certain.

And everyone knew what a leader’s resignation meant.

According to custom, before Zajik stepped down, he would recommend a few candidates to the family. This operation was a golden opportunity to make a good impression. Whether they could successfully climb the ladder all depended on this.

Therefore, as soon as they received the notification, everyone immediately dropped what they were doing. Those washing their hair stopped, those studying foreign languages quit. They all rushed to the conference center in the Florist Building.

In less than half an hour, the vast conference hall was packed.

"Who do you think they’ll target this time?"

"The Light Attendant?"

"The Living Dead? I hear he’s a bit slow... Or maybe the nightingale?"

"It can’t be the Living Dead."

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Shh," one of them interrupted. "Don’t say things you’re not supposed to."

Another person changed the subject. "I think it’ll be the Flame Crow."

You get back up where you fell.

Among all the High-tier Wizards in Siracle State, the Flame Crow was the most active, constantly ruining their plans. Killing her would be a major accomplishment.

From another perspective, the Flame Crow’s penchant for stirring up trouble also made her the easiest to ambush.